The Good House: Contrast as a Design Tool [Hardcover]

Max Jacobson (Author), Murray Silverstein (Author), Barbara Winslow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1990

In everyday language the authors explain their theory: how strong contrasts open spaces combined with closed spaces, darkness with light, simplicity with complexity - can be orchestrated to produce harmony in a living environment. With the help of drawings and photographs of successful house interiors, the authors show you how to evaluate the architecture of your home by analysing significant houses of other architects. In great detail they provide examples of how they apply the theory of contrast in the houses they design.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Taunton Press; First Printing edition (October 1, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942391055
• ISBN-13: 978-0942391053
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 9.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #780,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet -- an undiscovered gem., August 26, 2000

By 

Lars Jensen (Sausalito, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Good House: Contrast as a Design Tool (Hardcover)

Tells you how to create the details that make a place special, using a simple but powerful theory of linked contrasts. Highly readable, can be put to use by anyone. Few books offer such design insight, none in so few pages. I rank "The Good House" alongside Alexander's classic "A Pattern Language".

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent reference for student architects!, July 9, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good House: Contrast as a Design Tool (Hardcover)

As an architectural student, I found this book to be excellent. Unlike other architecture books which may highlight an architect or certain buildings, this book highlights the idea of "contrast" to stimulate how one can critically think about a design whether the project happens to be residential, public or institutional. The book also shows a myriad of different types of buildings of different styles to highlight the "contrast" concept clearly. I belive, this is an excellent refence book for students and architects alike!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars too simple, April 24, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good House: Contrast as a Design Tool (Hardcover)

First, to give the author credit, he reviewed other architect's works first and described the aspects of what he believed showed good design. Then he showed his own designs, very interesting. The man is talented. His commentary on contrasts is just too basic to good design to deserve an entire book on the subject. His analysis was clever and facile, but any student of design (or anyone with taste) understands the contrasts of large and small, bright and dark. His use of patterns is mildly interesting, hardly captivating. When I was finished I hadn't book-marked a single page (unusual for me) and I threw it on a pile of design books to be consigned to the library. Good for first-year design students, perhaps.